The federal government on Tuesday ordered Citibank to pay $700 million to customers it said had been overcharged by the bank.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also ordered the bank to pay $35 million in penalties associated to the overcharging and for the bank's use of "deceptive marketing" techniques.

The bureau said that 8.8 million customers will be compensated in the pay out, which includes 7 million people overcharged directly by Citibank and another 1.8 million customers of the bank's subsidiaries.

ruled 5-4 on Friday that it is legal for all Americans, no matter their gender or sexual orientation, to marry the people they love.

The decision is a historic victory for gay rights activists who have fought for years in the lower courts. Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia already recognize marriage equality. The remaining 13 states ban these unions, even as public support has reached record levels nationwide.

The justices found that under the 14th Amendment, states must issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and recognize same-sex unions that were legally performed in other states. Justice Anthony Kennedy delivered the majority opinion and was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor. In a rare move, the four dissenting justices each wrote an opinion.

Privacy campaigners and open source developers are up in arms over the secret installing of Google software which is capable of listening in on conversations held in front of a computer.

First spotted by open source developers, the Chromium browser – the open source basis for Google’s Chrome – began remotely installing audio-snooping code that was capable of listening to users.

It was designed to support Chrome’s new “OK, Google” hotword detection – which makes the computer respond when you talk to it – but was installed, and, some users have claimed, it is activated on computers without their permission.

“Without consent, Google’s code had downloaded a black box of code that – according to itself – had turned on the microphone and was actively listening to your room,” said Rick Falkvinge, the Pirate party founder, in a blog post. “Which means that your computer had been stealth configured to send what was being said in your room to somebody else, to a private company in another country, without your consent or knowledge, an audio transmission triggered by … an unknown and unverifiable set of conditions.”

Privacy campaigners and open source developers are up in arms over the secret installing of Google software which is capable of listening in on conversations held in front of a computer.

First spotted by open source developers, the Chromium browser – the open source basis for Google’s Chrome – began remotely installing audio-snooping code that was capable of listening to users.

It was designed to support Chrome’s new “OK, Google” hotword detection – which makes the computer respond when you talk to it – but was installed, and, some users have claimed, it is activated on computers without their permission.

“Without consent, Google’s code had downloaded a black box of code that – according to itself – had turned on the microphone and was actively listening to your room,” said Rick Falkvinge, the Pirate party founder, in a blog post. “Which means that your computer had been stealth configured to send what was being said in your room to somebody else, to a private company in another country, without your consent or knowledge, an audio transmission triggered by … an unknown and unverifiable set of conditions.”

The feature is installed by default as part of Google’s Chrome browser. But open source advocates are up in arms about it also being installed with the open source variant Chromium, because the listening code is considered to be “black box”, not part of the open source audit process.

“We don’t know and can’t know what this black box does,” said Falkvinge.

Opt-in or opt-out

Google responded to complaints via its developer boards. It said: “While we do download the hotword module on startup, we do not activate it unless you opt in to hotwording.”

However, reports from developers indicate otherwise.

After having identified Chromium as the culprit, developer Ofer Zelig said in a blog post: “While I was working I thought ‘I’m noticing that an LED goes on and off, on the corner of my eyesight [webcam]’. And after a few times when it just seemed weird, I sat to watch for it and saw it happening. Every few seconds or so.”

Google also blamed the Linux distribution Debian for downloading the non-open source component with Chromium automatically, rather than Google Chrome.

“The key here is that Chromium is not a Google product. We do not directly distribute it, or make any guarantees with respect to compliance with various open source policies,” Google developermgiuca said.

Falkvinge countered Google’s explanations saying: “The default install will still wiretap your room without your consent, unless you opt out, and more importantly, know that you need to opt out, which is nowhere a reasonable requirement.” He says a hardware switch to disable the microphone and camera built into most computers is needed.

Voice search functions have become an accepted feature of modern smartphones, but their movement into the home through the smart TV, and now browser, have caused concerns over the possibility of being listened to within the home.

While most services require a user to opt in, privacy advocates have questioned whether their use, which requires sending voice recordings over the internet to company servers for processing, risks unintentionally exposing private conversations held within the home.

An Air Force general who recently spoke about how God has guided his career should be court-martialed, a civil liberties group is saying.

In a speech at a National Day of Prayer Task Force event on May 7, Maj. Gen. Craig Olson credits God for his accomplishments in the military, and refers to himself as a “redeemed believer in Christ.”

The Air Force Times reports that the Military Religious Freedom Foundation has taken issue with Olson’s remarks, is calling for the two-star general to be court-martialed and "aggressively and very visibly brought to justice for his unforgivable crimes and transgressions."

The group authored a letter to Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Walsh, arguing that Olson’s speech violates rules within the Air Force, which prohibits airmen from endorsing a particular faith or belief.

The letter, posted on the group’s website, begins, “This demand letter is sent to you on behalf of countless members of the United States Air Force who are utterly disgusted and shocked by the brazenly illicit and wholly unconstitutional, fundamentalist Christian proselytizing recently perpetrated, on international television (“GOD TV”), and streaming all over the Internet and in full military uniform, by USAF Major General Craig S. Olson on Thursday, May 7, 2015 during a VERY public speech for a private Christian organization (The “National Day of Prayer Task Force”: NDPTF) headed up by Focus on the Family founder, Dr. James Dobson’s, wife Shirley Dobson. “

The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a Maryland tax that effectively double-taxes residents for income earned in other states -- a decision that could cost Maryland and other states with similar policies hundreds of millions of dollars.

In a 5-4 ruling, the justices agreed with a lower court that the tax is unconstitutional because it discourages Maryland residents from earning money outside the state.

"Maryland's tax scheme is inherently discriminatory," the justices wrote in the majority opinion. They wrote that the policy effectively discourages "interstate commerce."

The ruling said: "If every State adopted Maryland's tax structure, interstate commerce would be taxed at a higher rate than intrastate commerce."

A cybersecurity analyst who was removed from a United Airlines flight after tweeting about the airplane's security vulnerabilities told an FBI agent he had previously hacked into the in-flight entertainment system on a different flight and was able to take command of the plane long enough to make it fly sideways, according to a recently-released search warrant filed by the agency.

Chris Roberts, founder of One World Labs, was questioned by the FBI on April 15 upon landing at an airport in Syracuse after his flight from Chicago. According to the search warrant, Roberts told the FBI in February he had taken control of an aircraft, overwriting the code on the plane's "Thrust Management Computer" and issuing a "CLB," or command to climb.

“He stated that he thereby caused one of the airplane engines to climb resulting in a lateral or sideways movement of the plane during one of these flights,” FBI Special Agent Mark Hurley wrote in the warrant application filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York andpublished by a Canadian media outlet. “He also stated that he used Vortex software after compromising/exploiting or ‘hacking’ the airplane’s networks. He used the software to monitor traffic from the cockpit system.”

Gov. Jerry Brown, standing on a patch of brown grass in the Sierra Nevada that is usually covered with several feet of snow at this time of year, on Wednesday announced the first mandatory water restrictions in California history.

"It's a different world," he said. "We have to act differently."

Brown was on hand Wednesday as state officials took stock of historically abysmal levels of snowpack in the Sierra Nevada amid the state's grinding drought.

Brown ordered the California Water Resources Control Board to implement mandatory restrictions to reduce water usage by 25%. The water savings are expected to amount to 1.5 million acre-feet of water over the next nine months.

Other elements of Brown's order would:

Require golf courses, cemeteries and other large landscaped spaces to reduce water consumption.

--Replace 50 million square feet of lawn statewide with drought-tolerant landscaping as part of a partnership with local governments.

--Create a statewide rebate program to replace old appliances with more water- and energy-efficient ones.

--Require new homes to have water-efficient drip irrigation if developers want to use potable water for landscaping.

--Ban the watering of ornamental grass on public street medians.

--Call on water agencies to implement new pricing models that discourage excessive water use.

--Require agricultural to report more water usage information to the state so that regulators can better find waste and improper activities.

--Create a mechanism to enforce requirements that water districts report usage numbers to the state

BASTROP - The United States Army Special Operation Command is planning to train in counties and towns across the Western United States.

"Jade Helm" is a two-month long exercise with a combination of elite military forces designed offer realistic military training.

As Adam Racusin reports despite any fears of militarization officials feel there's no need to worry.

The small and picturesque streets of Bastrop Texas offer an inviting scene to locals and welcome getaway for people trying to escape big city life.

But in a few months there will be another group moving into the area; members of the United States Military.

"I don't think people here are intimidated by military operations in our community although it will raise some eyebrows" says Charlie Amos, a Bastrop resident.

Operation Jade Helm is expected to launch in at least 20 cities across seven states in the South Western US. With more than twelve hundred participants, in Texas alone, ranging from members of the Navy Seals to Army Special Forces, and Marine Special Operations.

"As long as people know what's going on they will be accepting of it" exclaims Joan Armstrong, a Bastrop resident.

"Part of me I get it but at the same time part of me with what goes on in the world today is just a little Leary" says Tracy Stamper.

County Officials report the military pitched them on the idea, with a presentation about what people can expect.

It says there will be an increased military presence, Personnel may be carrying weapons with blank ammo, and some individuals may conduct suspicious activities.

"I wrote them a letter and invited them to come," Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape believes there's nothing to the rumors of covert warfare and martial law coming to cities across the country.

Just a less conventional training exercise to help hone their skills.

"What I see here is an opportunity for a portion of our military to be better prepared and better trained to do work that has to be done to secure America’s interest around the world and here at home," says Bastrop Judge Paul Pape.

Some of the training could entail ground and air operations, and Special ops members learning to work within the community without being noticed.

While the idea might spark skepticism people we spoke with felt mostly at ease.

Since the founding of the force, New York’s police headquarters has been located in Lower Manhattan. But it soon may be moving to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, DC.Not literally, of course — but if present trends continue, the NYPD will be run de facto by the feds. It’s hard to see where else the growing federal role in policing could lead.Federal judges and attorneys now routinely urge the appointment of monitors and the imposition of consent decrees to permit them to assume authority over wide swaths of local policing.In his final days as US attorney general, Eric Holder has suggested lowering the standard of proof in civil-rights cases to make it easier to bring federal charges against an accused police officer.As Holder put it last week, “We can make the federal government a better backstop, make this more a part of the process . . . to reassure the American people that decisions are made by people who are really disinterested.”Incidents that were once only of local interest are now fodder for the national news.People in California march with their hands up to symbolize the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. Protesters in Boston shout “I can’t breathe,” the last words of Eric Garner before his death in police custody on Staten Island after resisting arrest for a minor violation.Police everywhere are on the grill not only for problems in their own cities, but for the supposed sins of their brothers and sisters in blue elsewhere in the country.The coming marches across America will bring even greater pressure for federal control over police departments.It does no good for some police chiefs to point out that their officers haven’t killed anyone under questionable circumstances.No one wants to listen when a chief points out how he has brought down murder in the inner city, or that for every black person killed by a police officer, 200 or 300 are slain by black criminals.Police violence alone is no longer the issue for many critics. It’s that virtually everything cops do is disrespectful to the black community, a phenomenon sometimes referred to as “unconscious racism.”This week’s Justice Department report on Ferguson proposed a total overhaul of the town’s police force, a solution some see as the only answer to policing problems.But the implications stretch far beyond Missouri: The standard that underlies Justice’s demands on Ferguson implies more federal demands on, and more legally mandated federal oversight of, police departments across the country.We’ll soon learn more about this phenomenon here in New York, when our new federal monitor starts throwing his weight around.